Coimbatore: One of the greatest joys of travel and touring a new city is trying out the authentic cuisine that is exclusive to that place and meet the faces behind the dishes. But to our utter surprise, in one such quest of allowing our palate to be indulged, we met a curious-looking foreign Chef at a vegetarian restaurant in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: One of the greatest joys of travel and touring a new city is trying out the authentic cuisine that is exclusive to that place and meet the faces behind the dishes. But to our utter surprise, in one such quest of allowing our palate to be indulged, we met a curious-looking foreign Chef at a vegetarian restaurant in Coimbatore.
At first look, we knew he had to be Japanese. With our curiousity obviously tickled as to how a Japanese landed as a Chef in a vegetarian hotel in Coimbatore, we decided to introduce ourselves and quiz him on his journey into our land.
Our curiousity gave way to amazement when he greeted us with a firm hand shake and a smile and introduced himself saying, "I am Katsuaki Suzuki and I run a South Indian restaurant in Tokyo." We could not believe our own ears. Yet, amazed by his knowledge and passion for South Indian food, we got him to share his sojourn with Indian food.
Slender, slightly-built and an extremely polite Katsuaki Suzuki' runs a restaurant in Tokyo called ‘Suna-no-Misaki’ - an Indian restaurant specialising in South Indian food. He regales us with hs=is comprehensive knowledge of South Indian food, especially the Sambar, Poriyal, Kootu, Chukka and the way these dishes are prepared.
As he went down memory lane and opened up about how South Indian cuisine is being served on the tables of Tokyo, Katsuaki Suzuki exulted saying, “My exploration of Tamil Nadu and Kerala made me instantly fall in love with Indian spices. Our food (Japanese) is simple and doesn’t involve much spices or ingredients. As I researched more, my love for the cuisine grew more.”
His love for our South Indian meals, complete with the rice, sambar, poriyal and rasam spilled over into the South Indian menu that he has cooked up at his restaurant in Tokyo. “We serve Veg meals, Kootu, Poriyal, Chicken Uppu Kari, Madurai Lamb Chukka, Alleppey Fish and more,” explained Katsuaki who reeled out the names of the Kongu dishes with such elan and authentic pronunciation.
"I travel every year to Tamil Nadu and was trained at a restaurant in Karaikudi to learn the authentic recipes of South India. Every year, I visit the Karaikudi restaurant to enrich my knowledge and master the nuances of traditional South Indian cuisine,” revealed Katsuaki. In fact, he has been travelling extensively throughout Tamil Nadu and Kerala to savour and learn the art of preparing the Indian cuisine.
Katsuaki Suzuki fondly recalls his trips to Madurai and Karaikudi where he fell in love for the hand-pound spices, the heady concoction of masalas and the side-dishes that are an integral part of the typical South Indian meal. "The fish curries from Madurai and Allepey are simply irresistible,” says an animated Katsuaki.
When asked where Kovai ranks in his list of “good food,” the Japanese Chef exulted that he had been visiting Coimbatore for the last three years and has been completely fascinated by the Kongu style of cooking which in his opinion has been the toughest of the lot. “Even Madurai and Karaikudi are little easier,” he adds.
As Katsuaki clicked pictures of the sambar, rasam and other side-dishes that he was relishing, he also interacted with another Chef and thanked her for a sumptuous meal. What took us completely by surprise was that Katsuaki was even able to guess the ‘Keerai’ (greens) with which the 'Keerai Kadaisal' was prepared.
A humble Katsuaki then politely told us that he was late for his flight and signed off with a friendly hand shake, bidding us ‘'Poitu Varren’ in authentic Tamil which floored us. We wished him well and he insisted on inviting us and anyone else from from Tamil Nadu who travels to Tokyo to try his restaurant.
Suna-no-Misaki, an Indian restaurant is located at 2 Chome-6-14 Shinmachi, Setagaya City, Tokyo 154-0014, Japan and is open from 11:30 am in the morning.
The sight of globe trotters in Coimbatore is not a rare sight. But simple tourists like Katsuaki Suzuki visiting our city frequently just for the love of our Kongu cuisine and exporting the taste and aroma of it, authentically to his own land far away has to be lauded.
